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Ipome College S>nm. 




i Number ^ 


-^---""-^ * ^^^^-^-^ 


---- Ninety, 


1 

1 


SKE'i'CH 

OF 





w, 



AMOS LAWRENCE. 



m 



BY C. ADAMS, D.D. 



\A. 






NEW YORK: 
PHILLIPS & HUNT 

CINCINNATI: 

WALDEN & STOWE. 

1883. 



— ? 



X I 



The "Home Collfge Series" will contain one hundred short papers on 
a wide range of subjects— biographical, Listorical, scientific, literary, domes- 
tic, political, and religious. Indeed, the religious tone will characteiize all 
of them. They are written lor every body— for all wliose leisure is limited, 
but who desire lo use the minutes for the enrichment of life. 

These papers contain sords from the be^t gardens in all the world of 
human knowledge, and if dropped wisely into good soil, wi'l bring forth 
harvests of beauty and value. 

They are for ihe 3'oung— especially for young people (and older people, 
too) who are out of the schools, who are full of '• business" and "cares," 
who are in danger of reading nothing, or of reading a sensutioual literature 
\hat is woree than nothing. 

One of those papers a week read over and over, thought and talked about 
at "odd times," will give in one year a vast fund of information, an intel- 
lectual quickening, worth even more than the mere knowledge acquired, a 
taste for solid read ng, many hours of simple and wholesome pleasure, and 
ability to talklntelligently and helpfully to one's friends. 

Pastors may organize ''Home College" classes, or "Lyceum Reading 
Unions," or "Chautauqua Literary and Scientific Circles," and iielp the 
young people to read and think and talk and live to worthier purpose. 

A young man may have his own little " college " all by himself, read this 
spries of tracts one after the other, (there will soon be one hundred of them 
readv,) examine himself on them by the " Thought-Outline to Help ihe Mem- 
ory." and thus gain knowledge, and, what is better, a love of knowledge. 

And what a 3'oung man may do in this respect, a young woman, and both 
old men and old women, may do. 

J. H. ViXCEXT. 
New Youk, Jan., 18S3. 



Copyright, 1863, by Puillifs & Hunt, N«w York. 



'ponu College Sfr'us. Uumber Himtg. 



AMOS LAWRENCE. 



Amos Lawrence was born in Groton, Mass., April 22, 
1786. His first public instruction was at a district school in 
the neighborhood of his father's house. He seems to have 
been a feeble child ; and when detained at home by ill health, 
he still employed himself industriously with his books ; and 
possessing a mechanical genius, he would amuse himself, also, 
with his little tools in manufacturing various toys. All this 
seems to have been a pleasant memory with him; and in 
mature life, in a letter to his son, he writes, " I like the plan 
of boys acquiring the taste for tools, and of their taking 
pains to learn their use; for they may be so situated as to 
make a very slight acquaintance very valuable to them. And 
then another advantage is, that they may have exercise of 
body and mind in some situations where they would suffer 
without. '* 

He then subjoins such pleasant instruction and reminis- 
cences as these : " How do you employ yourself ? Learn as 
much as you can of farming; for the work of your hands in 
this way proves the best resource in securing comfort to you. 
The beautiful images of early life come up in these bright, 
moonlight nights, the like of which I used to enjoy in the 
fields below our old mansion, where I was sent to watch the 
cattle. There I studied astronomy to more account than ever 
afterward; for the heavens were impressive teachers of the 
goodness of that Father who is ever near to each one of his 
children. May you never lose sight of this truth, and so 
conduct yourself that, at any moment, you may be ready to 
answer when He calls." 

Young Lawrence's educational advantages were slender, 
yet he seems to have made the best use of such as he had, and 



AMOS LA WBENCE. 



made considerable progress in his studies. From the district 
school he entered the Academy at Groton, where he finished 
his school studies. How long he remained in the academy 
does not appear. It could not, however, have been a very 
long time, for, at thirteen years of age, we find him placed 
in a small store in the neighboring town of Dunstable, where, 
after a few months, he was transferred to another store in 
his own town of Groton. In this situation much business 
was transacted, and several clerks were employed besides 
young Lawrence. After a year or two the responsibility of 
the establishment seems to have devolved upon him. Great 
confidence was reposed in him, not only by his employer, but 
also by the whole community ; and it was here that was 
established that character for probity and fairness in all 
business transactions which accompanied him throughout life. 
It should be remarked in addition, that although these 
were days that long preceded the great temperance move- 
ments of the last forty or fifty years, and although the use 
of intoxicating liquors was then entirely common, and even 
respectable, yet this sensible youth seems to have early dis- 
cerned their evil and dangerous influence, and, in his mind 
and practice, subscribed to the great principle of total ab- 
stinence years before any temperance society was organized 
or thought of. For a little time, he had slightly indulged 
with his associates in the fashionable practice of drinking 
spirits. But apprehensive of evil consequences, he promptly 
pauses. " Thinking," says he, " that the habit might make 
trouble if allowed to grow stronger, without further apology 
to my seniors, I declined partaking with them. My first 
resolution was to abstain for a week ; and, when the week 
was out, for a month ; and then for a year. Finally, I re- 
solved to abstain for the rest of my apprenticeship, which 
was for five years longer. During that whole period I never 
drank a spoonful, though I mixed gallons daily for my old 
master and his customers." 



AMOS LA WHENCE. 



Nor in his temperance principles does he seem to have 
been restricted to abstinence from intoxicating liquors, for 
he adds, " I decided not to be a slave to tobacco in any form, 
though I loved the odor of it then, and even now have in my 
drawer a superior Havana cigar, given me not long since by 
a friend, but only to smell of. I have never in my life 
smoked a cigar, never chewed but one quid, and that was 
before I was fifteen; and never took an ounce of snuff, though 
the scented rappee of forty years ago had great charms 
for me." 

Admirable as well as sensible are his concluding remarks : 
" Now, I say, to this simple fact of starting Just rights am I 
indebted, with God's blessing on my labors, for my present 
position, as well as that of the numerous connections sprung 
up around me. I have many details that now appear as plain 
to me ns the sun at noonday, by which events are connected 
together, and which have led to results that call on me to 
bless the Lord for all his benefits, and to use the opportuni- 
ties thus permitted to me in cheering on the generations of 
young men who have claims upon my sympathies as relations, 
fellow-townsmen, or brethren, on a more enlarged scale." 

We have noticed the responsibility thrown by his employer 
upon this young clerk of his establishment. Nor did he be- 
tray his trust. He labored incessantly — gave himself entirely 
to his business, and althougli being within a mile from his 
father's house, an entire week would sometimes pass without 
an opportunity of paying a transient visit home. 

Coming of age, Mr. Lawrence contemplated a mercantile 
establishment of his own at Groton; and visited Boston with 
a view of making arrangements accordingly. While there, 
however, having received from a respectable house the offer 
of a clerkship, and wishing to familiarize himself with the 
modes of conducting mercantile affairs in the metropolis, he 
accepted the offer, and Boston, instead of Groton, became the 
theater of his life operations and successes. 



AMOS LA WHENCE. 



Such are the leadings of the divine Providence. Here was 
a youth starting forth into life, who had already sketched 
for himself a general plan of procedure, and had fixed the 
locality of his future enterprise and his probable permanent 
dwelling-place. At the same time he was a religious young 
man of sterling principle, with a determined bent toward 
uprightness and truth. As he went Bostonwnrd on that 
first business excursion, with his cherished and favorite plans, 
he went in good faith. He had no other thought than of 
returning, after a few days, and, on his own responsibility, 
and for his own fortune and welfare, commence in his native 
town a life-long career of business activity. 

But he was not obstinate in his plans and intentions. He 
feared God, and acknowledged a superintending Hand. He 
was willing to be led in this path or that if the leading ap- 
peared to him providential. It was a pleasant idea — that of 
engaging at once in business for himself, and being his own 
master and controlling his own movements. Hitherto, he 
had ever been a subordinate; but now his majority had come, 
his credit was good, his character without a stain, and a mul- 
titude of friends in all his native region had arisen around him. 
None had fairer prospects for coming life. 

Shall he not, then, proceed as he had planned ? Who can 
doubt that, amid those *' few days " of his tarrying at Boston, 
this upright and Christian young man was diligent in " sup- 
plications and prayers " for the Divine leadings when invited 
unexpectedly to a clerkship in the city, and the question 
being between the acceptance of this and the prosecution 
of his own previous plans ? " In all thy ways acknowledge 
Him, and he shall direct thy paths." 

Mr. Lawrence decided for Boston and a clerkship; and was 
it, or was it not, a momentary decision ? Surely, every young 
man should ponder well this crisis in the history of Amos 
Lawrence, and receive instruction. 

He entered upon his clerkship with his characteristic ability, 



AMOS LA WRENGE. 



energy, and fidelity. His employers were awake to his tal- 
ents and industry, and were more than satified; and he was 
presently invited to partnership in the firm. Declining this 
offer, and the house he was serving becoming insolvent, he 
determined to commence business for himself. He thus 
details what w^as, at this time, the financial condition of him- 
self and his family : 

" I was then, in the matter of property, not worth a dollar. 
My father was comfortably off as a farmer, somewhat in debt, 
with, jjerhaps, four thousand dollars. My brother Luther 
was in the practice of law, getting forward, but not worth 
two thousand dollars; William had nothing ; Abbott, a hid 
just fifteen years old, at school; and Samuel, a child seven 
years old." 

We note the following among the principles which, on 
commencing business, Mr. Lawrence adopted for himself : 

Instead of spending his evenings at the theater or other 
places of amusement, to devote them to some useful reading 
or study. 

To allow no bill to stand against him unpaid on the Sab- 
bath. 

To keep an exact account of merchandise bought and sold 
each day, with the profit of each day's transactions so far as 
possible. 

After his second year's business, always to have property 
to represent forty percent., at least, more than he owed. 

His first year's business produced him ^1,500, and his sec- 
ond year, $4,000. After being fairly established in business, 
he received his younger brother, Abbott, as an apprentice — 
then fifteen years of age. "Li 1808," he writes, "he (Ab- 
bott) came to me as my apprentice, bringing his bundle un- 
der his arm, with less than three dollars in his pocket, (and 
this was his fortune ;) a first-rate business lad he was, but, 
like other bright lads, needed the careful eye of a senior to 
guard him from the pitfalls that he was exposed to.'* 



AMOS LAWRENCE. 



Such was the boy, who, in mature life, was invited to a seat 
in the Presidential Cabinet — who was sent as embassador 
to the Court of St. James, \vho gave $100,000 for the estab- 
lishment of a scientific school, and who died worth several 
millions. " The diligent hand maketh rich." "Seest thou a 
man diligent in his buf^iness? He shall stand before kings; 
he shall not stand before mean men." 

In the following year Mr. Lawrence established his brother 
William in business in a store next to his own; and then these 
three brothers were together. " Do not fall out by the w^ay, 
for a threefold cord is not quickly broken," w^as the admoni- 
tion that, in those days, came to them from their venerable 
father, and it was not disregarded. 

Time passed on. The war with England came, with its 
disabilities and discouragements for the mercantile world, 
and many a house, before prosperous and w^ealthy, was ruined. 
But Mr. Lawrence, meanwhile, held up amid the distresses 
of the times. " Despondency formed no part of his char- 
acter, while cool sagacity and unceasing watchfulness and 
perse\ erance enabled him to weather many a storm which 
made shipwreck of others around him." 

In the summer of 1811 Mr. Law^rence w^as married to 
Miss Sarah Richards, a very estimable young lady, w^hose 
acquaintance he had made when, several years before, she 
was a student at Groton Academy. From his description of 
her before their marriage it would seem that Miss Richards 
was admirably qualified for the destiny awaiting her. Well 
educated and beautiful, she was, w^ithal, amply endowed with 
good sense and sterling principles — qualities greatly pref- 
erable, in the eyes of her intended husband, to the mere 
accomplishments of what is termed a fashionable education. 

On his brother Abbott's becoming of age, in 1814, Amos 
received him to partnership on equal shares, putting into the 
concern $50,000, which, up to that time, he had earned. This 
partnership continued till death came to dissolve it. In the 



AMOS LA WHENCE. 



next year the junior partner embarked for England in behalf 
of the business of the concern, followed immediately by a 
letter from his brother, fraught with sundry items of excel- 
lent advice, and admirably pertinent as from an elder brother 
to a younger going abroad to encounter the varied beset- 
ments of the great world. Having counseled him regarding 
a careful arrangement of temporal affairs, he adds : " If it 
is important that you should be well prepared in this point 
of view, how much more important is it that you should be 
prepared in that which relates to eternity ! You are young, 
and the course of life seems open, and pleasant prospects greet 
your ardent hopes; but you must remember that the race is 
not always to the swift, and that however flattering may be 
your prospects, and however zealously you may seek pleasure, 
you can never find it except by cherishing pure principles, 
and practicing right conduct. My heart is full on this sub- 
ject, my dear brother; and it is the only one on which I feel 
the least anxiety." 

After a week or two he writes to this young brother again; 
and here is another extract : " My next and constant direc- 
tion will be to keep a particular watch over yourself that 
you do not fall into any habits of vice; and as a means of 
preserving yourself, I would most strictly enjoin that your 
Sabbaths be not spent in noise and riot, but that you attend 
the public worship of God. This you may think an unneces- 
sary direction to you, who have always been in the habit 
of doing so. I hope it may be; at any rate, it will do no 
haira." 

If, w^ith the elder of these two brothers, there were any 
apprehensions for the moral welfare of the younger, there 
was certainly no lack of confidence in his business capacity. 
To his wife, then absent at Groton, he writes of receiving, 
the day before, a consignment of merchandise from Abbott, 
which he was expecting to dispose of immediately, and adds: 
" I suspect there are few instances of a young man leaving 



AMOS LA WHENCE. 



this town, sending out goods, and having them sold within 
ninety days fiom the time of his departure. It is eighty- 
four days, this morning, since he left home." 

Three days afterward he thus addresses Abbott : " You 
are as famous among your acquaintances here, for the rapidity 

of your movements, as Bonaparte. Mr. thinks you 

leave Bonaparte entirely in the background. I really feel a 
little proud, my dear brother, of your conduct. Few instances 
of like dispatch are known." 

Of the habits and manners of Mr. Lawrence about this 
time, we have the following sketch from one of his clerks, 
afterward a prominent merchant of New York : 

" When the business season was over he would sit down 
with me and converse freely and familiarly, and would al- 
ways have something interesting and useful to say. I used 
to enjoy these sittings; and, while I ahvays feared to do 
any thing, or leave any thing undone, which would displease 
him, 1, at the same time, .had a very higli regard, and I may 
say love, for him, such as I never felt for any other man 
besides my own father. He liad a remarkable faculty of 
bringing the sterling money into our currency, with any ad- 
vance, by a calculation in his mind, and would give the result 
Avith great accuracy in one quarter of the time which it took 
me to do it by figures. I used to try hard to acquire this, 
faculty, but could not, and never saw any other person who 
possessed it to the degree he did. His mind was remarkably 
vigorous and accurate; and, <'.onsequently, his business was 
transacted in a prompt and correct manner. Nothing was 
left undone until to-morrow which could be done to-day. 
He was master of, and controlled, his business, instead of 
allowing his business to master and control him." 

For a series of years the Lawrences went on prosperously, 
and the head of the firm — the subject of this sketch — as well 
as his junior brother and partner, were deeply devoted to 
their business interests. So great, indeed, had become the 



A3I0S LA WRENGE. 



pressure of their business engagements, that Mr. Lawrence 
was evidently becoming weary under the burden. Thus, in 
the beginning of 1826, he makes the foHowing entry in a 
private memorandum : 

" I have been extensively engaged in business during the 
last two years, and have added much to my worldly posses- 
sions; but have come to the same conclusions in regard to 
them that I did in 1818. I feel distressed in mind that the 
resolutions then made have not been more effectual in keep- 
ing me in this oner-en gag edness in business. I now find my- 
self so engrossed with its cares as to occupy my thoughts, 
waking or sleeping, to a degree entirely disproportioned to 
its importance. The quiet and comfort of home are broken 
in upon; the anxiety arising from the losses and mischances 
of a business so extensive as ours; and, above all, that com- 
munion which ought ever to be kept free between man and 
his Maker, is interrupted by the incessant calls of the multi- 
farious pursuits of our establishment. Property acquired at 
such sacrifices as I have been obliged to make the past year, 
costs more than it is worth; and the anxiety in protecting it 
is the extreme of folly." 

He determines upon some change and curtailments; and, 
next New Year, he makes another entry : 

" The principles of business laid down a year ago have 
been very nearly practiced upon. Our responsibilities and anx- 
ieties have been greatly diminished, as, also, have the accus- 
tomed profits of business; but there is sufticient remaining 
for the reward of our labor, to impose on us increased respon- 
sibilities and duties, as agents who must at last render an 
account. God grant that mine be found correct ! " 

The following extract of a letter from Mr. Lawrence to 
his son, at school, evinces much sterling sense, and is fit to 
be carefully remembered by all young students : " You may 
be very sure that any study that keeps your mind engaged 
will be likely to strengthen it; and that, if you leave your 



10 AMOS LA WEENGE. 



mind inactive, it will run to waste. Your arm is strength- 
ened by wielding a broadsword, or even a foil; your legs, 
by various gymnastic exercises, and the organs of sight and 
hearing, by careful and systematic use, are greatly improved; 
even the finger is trained, by the absence of sight, to per- 
form almost th£ service of the eye. All this shows how natural 
it is for all the powers to grow stronger by use. You needed 
not these examples to convince you; but my desire to have 
you estimate your advantages properly, induces me to write 
upon them very often. Every American youth owes his 
country his best talents and services, and should devote them 
to the country's welfare. In doing that, you will promote 
not only your own welfare, but your highest enjoyment." 

In the year 1831 occurred an important crisis in the life of 
Mr. Lawrence. He was at this time about forty-five years 
of ^ge, and was on the full tide of an extensive and suc- 
cessful business. In his business, however, he seems not to 
have been so absorbed as to render it burdensome and op- 
pressive; but, to use his own language in another letter to 
his son, he was pursuing business steadily, " without working 
hard, or having anxious feelings about it." " I think," he 
adds, " that I can work, for the next six years, with as good 
relish as ever I did, but I make labor a pleasure." 

His anticipations of efficiency, however, for years to come, 
were not to be realized. In the very midst of his most brill- 
iant days, and of his pleasurable activity, IVIr. Lawrence 
was suddenly arrested by an illness so violent and alarming, 
as to leave but slight hopes of recovery. He partially ral- 
lied, at length; but never so as to resume his former strength 
and activity. His business life was ended ; and, though he 
was enabled to advise with others, and give, sometimes, a 
direction to the course of affairs, he assumed no responsi- 
bility, and had virtually retired from the field. 

Yet in retiring from the field of active business, it was 
not to be a withdrawal to a mere dull, spiritless, and useless 



AMOS LAWRENCE. 11 

life. It was, rather, to enter upon that sunny career of 
beneficence which, more than all things else, shed a beauti- 
ful radiance over the memory of this most genial and excel- 
lent man. He was now a confirmed invalid; and his life, 
henceforth, would hang upon a thread; yet in entire and 
even joyful acquiescence with the Divine pleasure, that life 
so precarious and uncertain, would be, thenceforward, dedi- 
cated to the happiness of multitudes. 

It was with such a spirit as this that he gratefully rose 
from his sick bed, and, with gentle and careful step, came 
forth to mingle again in the socialities of life, and address 
himself to life's great duties. His partial recovery seemed 
to him almost like being raised from the dead. " And I hope," 
he writes, " that the space that may be allotted me, may be 
employed in better service than any period of my past life." 

A year or two onward from the important epoch just 
noticed in the life of Mr. Lawrence, there were frequent 
sicknesses, and such as to confine him to his chamber, or, at 
least, within the walls of Ids dwelling. His pen, however, 
is not idle, and from his sick-room go out one and another 
pleasant epistle to absent children, and to others that were 
dear to him. All the specimens of this correspondence that 
we are permitted to see give unmistakable evidence of a chas- 
tened, devoted, and lieavenly spirit. A man of large and 
abundant possessions is writing here, but he is manifestly 
hanging loosely upon this world, and his eye, instead of lin- 
gering amid earthly riches, is strongly directed away to the 
treasure which is immortal, incorruptible, and that fadeth 
not away. In addressing his children, especially, his point- 
ing is firm and steady toward goodness, truth, and heaven; 
and few and slight, indeed, are all the words he whispers to 
them of things earthly and perishing. 

As time goes on there is a gradual improvement in health 
and strength. There are drawbacks and illnesses, yet many 
a luminous interval comes in when he expresses himself as 



12 AM08 LA WRENCE. 

feeling " as light as a feather," and as if he "could mount upon 
a zephyr " and ride afar. In fact, amid those brighter days, 
he often does ride abroad; not, indeed, upon the wings of 
the wind, but upon a favorite horse of his which he styles 
his " little doctor: " in virtue, we presume, of the wholesome 
medicine derived from frequent excursions upon his back. 
It seems that, in these horseback rides, Mr. Lawrence had a 
fondness for enlisting, as companions, one and another of the 
Boston clergy, regardless of sect; for sectarianism had no 
place in this man's heart. Such men as Dr. Lothrop, the 
Unitarian ; Dr. Blagden, the Congregationalist ; Dr. Sharp, 
the Baptist; Dr. Stone, the Churchman; and Father Taylor, 
the Methodist, and others, were among the invited partic- 
ipants in these pleasant excursions abroad. And inasmuch 
as these same rides were irrespective of season or distance, 
it is said that in the matter of endurance of summer sun, or 
winter frosts, or grim fatigue, these clerical companions of 
his would frequently come off second best; while tilled with 
wonder, withal, where, in their frail and invalid friend, so 
much strength could be deposited. 

But the remainder of this sketch must be mostly limited 
to a brief gl.mce at some of the abounding benefactions of 
this rare man. At the end of the year 1H35 his memoran- 
dum book of property received the following entry : 

"My expenses have been thousand dollars this year; 

of which about one half went for purposes and persons that 
make me feel that it has been well expended, and is better 
used than to remain in my possession. God grant that I may 
have a disposition to use these talents in such a manner as to 
receive, at last, the joyful sound of ' Well done ! ' " 

A similar entry appears at the closing up of 1843, when 
the author includes the fourteen preceding years; during 
which years he seems to have expended, for benevolent pur- 
poses, considerably over $120,000. 

At the beginning of 1845 Mr. Lawrence reflects as follows: 



AMOS LA WBENGE. 13 

" The business of the past year has been eminently suc- 
cessful, and the increased value of many of the investments 
large. In view of these trusts, how shall we appear when 
the Master calls ? I would earnestly strive to keep con- 
stantly in mind the fact that he will call, and that speedily, 
upon each and all of us, and that when he calls, the ques- 
tion will be, ' How have you used these ? ' — not, * How much 
have you hoarded ? ' " 

Then follows at once a donation of $10,000 to Williams 
College; and, soon after, a considerable donation also comes 
to a Baptist college in another State. 

The year 1845 was a year of bitter bereavements, a be- 
loved son and daughter, among others, having been removed 
by death. As on the succeeding New Year he retraces the 
past, he w^rites: "What am I left here for, and the young 
branches taken home ? Is it not to teach me the danger of 
being unfaithful to my trusts? ... I hope to be faithful in 
applying some of my trusts to uses which God manifestly 
explains to me by his dealings." Accordingly, at the middle 
of this year, (1846,) in making up his estimates of gain and 
expenditures for the half year then closed, he finds that the 
expenditures have exceeded the income by $20,000. 

But that we may not be tedious, we subjoin the following 
summary of the benefactions of Mr. Lawrence, as published 
in the " American Encyclopedia : " 

He commenced on the first day of the year, 1829, an ac- 
count of his charities, which he kept until the day of his 
death, expending within that period, according to his books, 
the sum of $639,000 for charitable purposes. Nearly five 
sixths of this amount were given during the last eleven years 
of his life. From 1842 to 1853 he gave $525,000 for such 
purposes. The preceding thirteen years, from 1828 to 1841, 
he expended in this way, $114,000. It is but reasonable to 
suppose that during his life he expended $700,000 for the 
benefit of his fellow-men. 



14 AMOS LA WRENGE. 



" Among the public objects of his bounty were Williams 
College, to which he gave nearly J40,000 ; the Academy in 
Grot on, now Lawrence Academy, on which he expended, at 
different times, $20,000; Wabash College, Runyon College, 
the Theological Seminary at Bangor, and several others. 
Books he distributed in whole libraries — sendino- collections 
to many literary institutions and deserving persons. He also 
established, and for some time maintained, a Child's Infirm- 
ary in Boston, and contributed $10,000 toward the comple- 
tion of the Bunker Hill Monument. His private benefac- 
tions, which were almost innumerable, he always superin- 
tended, and several rooms in his house were used as receptacles 
of useful articles for distribution. Poor students, ministers, 
and widows frequently received packages from this store, 
selected by his own hand; and in the distribution of these, 
and, indeed, of all his charities, he recognized no distinction 
of creed or opinion." 

President Hopkins, of William^ College, in a sermon to 
the students, remarked of Mr. Lawrence, that there were 
three characteristics of his benevolence : " The first of them," 
said he, " is, that he gave the money in his life-time." "No 
one could know him," he adds, " without perceiving that in 
his giving there was no remnant of grudging or reluctance; 
that ho gave not only freely, but with gladness, as if it were 
the appropriate action of a vital energy. 

" The second peculiarity in which he was pre-eminent was 
the personal attention and sympathy which he bestowed with 
it. He had in his house a room where he kept stores of use- 
ful articles for distribution. He made up the bundle; he 
directed the package. No detail was overlooked. He re- 
membered the children, and designated for each the toy, the 
book, the elegant gift. He thought of every want, and was 
ingenious and happy in devising appropriate gifts. . . . 

" The third characteristic referred to of the bounty of Mr. 
Lawrence, was, that he gave as a Christian man — from a sense 



AMOS LA WRENGE. 15 

of religious obligation. . . . He was a deeply religious man. 
His trust in God, and his hopes of salvation through Christ, 
were the basis of his character." 

President Hopkins afterward adds: " Family religion he 
esteemed as above all price; and when he first learned that 
a beloved relative had established family worship, he wept 
for joy. He distributed religious books very extensively, 
chiefly those of the American Tract Society." 

We add a brief testimonial of his pastor: 

" The prominent feature in Mr. Lawrence's life and char- 
acter, its inspiration and its guide, was religion; religious 
faith, affection, and hope. He loved God, and, therefore, he 
loved all God's creatures. He believed in Christ as the prom- 
ised Messiah nnd Saviour of the world; and, therefore, found 
peace and strength to his soul amid all the perils, duties, and 
sorrows of life." 

But good men, and rich men must die, and Amos Law- 
rence was no exception to this law, nor did he desire to be. 
On the other hand, he welcomed the hour of his departure. 
For a long time, as we have seen, his hold on life was slender 
and precarious. Yet no one, a few hours before his death, 
indulged a thought that it was actually close at hand. He 
was seeming well and animated, and more than usually com- 
municative. So it was on the evening of December 30, 1852. 
That evening he addressed a note to his friend, Prof. Pack- 
ard, of Brunswick; and this was his last letter. He retired 
at ten, and a few moments after midnight the summons came, 
and Amos Lawrence departed this life. 

His memory is blessed. 

As Mr. Lawrence's younger brother, Abbott, was alluded 
to in the foregoing sketch, a brief additional notice of this 
distinguished individual may not be deemed out of place 
here. 

The first appenrance of Abbott Lawrence in public life 
was as a reprcbcntative in the Thirty-fourth Congress for 



16 AMOS LAWRENCE. 

the Suffolk District, embracing the city of Boston. He, 
however, declined a re-election. In 1842 he was appointed 
a commissioner on the part of Massachusetts, on the subject 
of the north-east boundary, and in this office, in the opinion 
of his biographer, there was due to him, more than to any 
other individual, the successful accomplishment of the nego- 
tion which resulted in the important treaty of Washington. 

In the Whig National Convention of 1848 he lacked but 
six votes for the nomination for the Yice-Presidency ; and, 
being subsequently offered a seat in the Cabinet of President 
Taylor, he declined the distinguished honor. Afterward, 
during his residence at the Court of St. James, he served 
with great credit until his recall, at his own request. 

Here closed the public career of Abbott Lawrence, and 
the remainder of his life was mainly devoted to his private 
affairs. His benefactions for private and public purposes 
were numerous, and were wisely bestowed. In addition to 
1100,000 to H.irvard College, he devoted |50,000 to the 
establishment of model lodging-houses, whose rents were to 
be forever applied to certain public charities. " He was 
greatly esteemed in private life for his benevolence of dispo- 
sition and genial manners, and in his public relations he 
commanded the respect of all parties." 



[thought-outline to help the memoby.] 

Time and place of birth ? Early educational advantages ? Clerkship ? Tem- 
perance principles ? 

A clerk in Boston ? In business for himself? Business rules ? His brothers ? 
His marriage ? 

Partnership of his brother Abbott ? Religious advice to him ? Testimony of 
a former clerk ? Changes in his business plans ? 

Serious illness? His religious experience? His bereavements ? His benefac- 
tions ? Three characteristics of his benevolence ? 



CENTS. 

iVo. "1. Biblical Exploration. A Con- 
densed Manual on How to Study the 
n\\,\>\ By J. H. Vincent, D.D. FuU 

and rich 10 

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Guide to the Science of Astronomy. 

By H. W. Warren, D.D 10 

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No. 5. Greek History. By J. H. Vin- 

cciu, D.D 10 

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No. 9. William CuUen Bryant 10 

No. 10. What is Education? By Wm. 

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No. it. Socrates. By Prof. W. F. Phelps, 

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No. 24. Canadian History. By James 

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No. 27. Readings from Ancient Classics. 10 
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Times. By J. M. Freeman, D.D 10 

No. 29. Man's Antiquity and Language. 

By M. S. Terry, D.D 10 

No. 30. The World of Missions. By 

Henry K. Carroll 10 

No. 31. What Noted Men Tliink of 

Christ. By L. T. Townsend, D.D ... . 10 
No. 32. A Brief Outline of the History 

of Art. By Miss Julia B. De Forest . 10 
No. 33. Elihu Burritt: "The Learned 

Blacksmith." By Charles Norlhend. 10 
No. 34. Asiatic History : Ciilna, Corca, 

Japan. By Rev. Wm. Elliot Griffis.. 10 
No. 35. Outlines Oi General History. 

By J. H. Vincent. D.D 10 

No. 36. Assembly iMble Outlines. By 

J. H. Vincent, D.D 10 

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J. H. Vincent. D.D 10 

No. 38. The Life of Christ, By Rev. 

J. L. Hurlbut, M.A 10 

No. 39. The Sunday-School Normal 

Class. By J. H. Vincent, D.D 10 



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1. Thomas Carlyle 

D.D. I 

2. William Wordsworth. By Daniel 40 

Wise, D.D. 1 41 

3. Egypt. By J. I. Boswell. 

4. Henry Wordsworth Longfellow. 

By Daniel Wise, D.D 

5. Rome. Bv J. I. Boswell. 

6. England. ' By J. I. Boswell. 

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Daniel the Uncompromising Young '54. 

Man. By C. H. Payne, D.D. i 55. 

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The Rain. By Miss Carrie E. Den- 57. 

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By Daniel Wise, 61. 



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M.S. , . I 

21. William Hickling Prescott. By 65. 

Daniel Wise, D.D. 66. 

22. Wise Sayings of the Common! 

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23. William .Shakespeare. By Daniel 68. 

Wise, D.D. 169. 

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26 John Milton. By Daniel Wise, D.D. j 

27. Penmanship. 

28. Housekeeper's Guide. 

29. Themistocles and Pericles. 

Plutarch.) 

30. Alexander. (From Plutarch.) 

31. Coriolanus and Maximus. 

Plutarch.) 

32. Demosthenes and Alcibiades. 

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38. A Set of Tools, By Alfred Taylor. 



I7I- 
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(From 

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76. 

77- 

78. 

79- 
80. 
81. 

.82. 



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Memory Practice. 
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Meteors. Bv C. M. Westlake. M.S. 
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France. By ]. I. Boswell. 
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United States. By ]. I. Boswell. 
The Ocean. By Mis's Carrie R. Den- 

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Vicinity. By J. M. Buckley. D.D. 
Keep Good Company. By Samuel 

Smiles. 
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Readings from Cowper. 
Plant Life. By .Mrs. V. C. Phoebus. 
Words. By Mrs. V. C. Phoebus. 
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Art in Greece. Part I. 
Art in Italy. Part I. 
Art in Germany. 
Art in France. 
Art in England. 
Art in America. 
Readings from Tennyson. . 
Readings from Milton. Part ». 
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Rufus Choate. 
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The Liquor System. 
Germany. By J. I. Boswell. 
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Reading and Readers. By H. C. 

Farrar, A.B. 
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Bingham. 
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